In what has been a painful wait Optus finally confirmed (internally) that they are going to carry the Galaxy Nexus. Due in store on or around the 20th of December for FREE, that’s right FREE on the $79 Business Cap (24 month contract). If they hold true to previous form, the phone will be available to general consumers shortly after the Dec 20th release.
Great news for people (much like me) who have been waiting for the carriers to offer the phone on a contracted term because the $800 price tag is a bit steep!
The even better news is now that Optus have blinked in the Galaxy Nexus staring war, others are sure to follow suit quite soon.
Nice, that’s helpful for me!
Well it looks like Vodafone has beaten Optus to the Galaxy Nexus. They are pre-selling the Nexus on $59 per month with $5 monthly handset repayments. Check out the link below 🙂
http://shop.vodafone.com.au/mobile-details/buy-samsung-galaxy-nexus
@twitter-160165367:disqus
We were told that we might have it as an exclusive, but i confirmed with sources in other telco’s that they will be stocking it – as for a release date, there isn’t any yet from any other telco. So as it stands at this point in time, Optus will definitely be selling the Nexus from the 20th of this month. You can dig a little deeper into the other telco’s if you wish but my sources aren’t your average retail sales people 😉
I smell a conspiracy! Apple phones are so much more expensive yet are often cheaper or similar on a plan to Android phones which could be bought outright for half the price of an iPhone. I suspect telcos are ripping off Android or other users to allow them to brag the lowest iPhone prices. Not to mention that having bloat on Android phones should further subsidise price for Android phones. Sick of iLove.
ugh the reason iphone prices change so much is because apple sets the pricing schedules for iphones. they believe it is a “privilege” to carry there product. the only reason the telcos put up with it is because it gets people in the door. they leave it up to the sales people to educate the customer.
I doubt there’s a conspiracy as the outright prices are pretty much on par. The iPhone 4S 16GB sells for $799 outright in Australia, and I’ve just bought a Galaxy Nexus 16GB from Mobicity for around $800 delivered. Many people on the Whirlpool forums have been paying around $700 to bring a Galaxy Nexus in from the UK, and again that’s in the same ballpark as a 16GB iPhone 4S “SIM-free” over there. So, outright prices are pretty comparable. It’s got a lot more to do with how the carriers chop and change the plans to take advantage of excitement… Read more »
Ok, I must not have researched enough. I hadn’t seen an iPhone 4s for under a grand outright and was comparing this to semi recent phones such as galaxy s2 which you can get outright for around 500 . Yet not much difference in price on plans.
Awesome can’t wait to grab one finally! I hope this will include the recent flash and volume bug fixes.
Even if it doesn’t, at least you’ll be able to fix it yourself. If Optus don’t tamper with its status as a Google-experience device, then you’ll be able to unlock the bootloader and replace the ROM with leaked copies of the fixed ROM.
really wanted this free or at most $5 on a $49 plan, am I being unrealistic? hopefully Voda can offer something like this … (and soon, the waiting game is no fun)
The Galaxy S 2 isn’t even free on the $49.. Why would a phone with higher specs and first release of ICS be cheaper?
It was when Optus and Vodafone was having a price war, I ended up with the SGSII for free on $49 a month back in late Oct on Optus
I got the GSII for $10 a month on $45 infinite plan (12 months contract).
Give it 3 months or so before it reaches that price if the SGSII was any indication, But you also must stay diligent as the telcos have random price wars without much fun fair and only online for about a week at a go. Ozbargain.com.au was the site that gave me notice of the free on $49 deal for Optus back in early Oct . It’s currently only free on $59 at Optus and 10$ a month on top of the $45 infinite plan on Voda and I think still $79 at Telstra. *edited* Actually looking at Ozbargains, It seems… Read more »
Telstra have SGSII for $59 a month now and $10 on $49. Nexus is going to be around the same for all carriers for the first month at least i think. The trend is usually $79 a month without a handset repayment and then it will slowly come down. They would be stupid to release it after Christmas is Samsung is looking for a sales boost.
yeah I check ozbargain daily so I’ll hop on a plan as soon as it drops
Phil, how long will it be only available do you think on a $79 business plan? Will it be available on other plans before Christmas?
It will also be available on the $99 and $129 plans.
Not information I have available at the moment I’m afraid.
History indicates they’ll push to business THEN consumer.Then look at their competitors prices!
There won’t be competitor pricing for at least a month as Optus has exclusivity on the Nexus 🙂 But on the 20th (official release date) I’m certain that it will be available to both consumer & business customers. If i’m wrong then all you need is an ABN – here’s the great part – It doesn’t have to be your ABN as long as you have permission to use it, eg; family, friends etc, you then sign a proforma stating you are eligible to use it and bam business plan & Galaxy Nexus for you 😀
Has that been confirmed? I know they were trying to get the exclusive, but I haven’t seen anything to confirm that yet. And there’s certainly a lot of circumstantial evidence to indicate that Telstra will be getting it soon…
Here’s what i’ve found out from the most reliable of my sources in the telco world, Optus will have it in store on the 20th this month as long as the store near you has ordered them by end of today 7/12, Vodafone will be selling it – unsure of the launch date but confirmed this month, they hope lol, Telstra have it in the system but no launch date and no word in their retail stores at this point in time. So as it stands, Optus WILL have it on the 20th on both consumer and business plans starting… Read more »
You said that Optus have exclusivity for a month – then you turned around and said that Vodafone will have it in December as well?
You musty remember that other than the HD AMOLED display and the fast focus camera the phone is using 6 month old technology. Now, buying a phone that has older tech for 24 months on the 79 cap is a bit much.
For those that say optus is better than Voda, all i will say is im currently getting better coverage and speed with voda than optus here in syd.
“For those that say optus is better than Voda, all i will say is im currently getting better coverage and speed with voda than optus here in syd.”
LOL!
and whats funny?
I don’t know where in Sydney you live but I can’t do anything other than check image-free emails between Newtown and the CBD. I left Voda a fortnight ago when the final straw occurred while making an online ticket purchase that timed out and I was double charged for.
I left Voda without early termination fee due to reception, much like everyone else. Went to Optus and even though it’s apparently become worse due to Voda refugees, it’s still miles ahead. I can actually bother browsing.
where in sydney? not in the city. thats where. like i said the roll out is from west to the city. so april next yr the city will be fixed
After Voda crashed, most of their customers hopped to Optus and ended up congesting their network.. GG?
Couldn’t agree more .. why would you go for this when the sgs2 is available .. when I upgrade in 6 months time there will be quad core phones on the market that will make this phone look like rubbish .. I wouldn’t bother .. but if you need a phone right now I think the sgs2 is a better bang for your buck.
because this phone will get updates on time and the SGS2 won’t and also has the stupid overlays that Samsung put on it
And don’t forget ICS! That’s reason enough to get this phone right there.
The NFC chip makes this phone a little more future proof when you combine it with the screen and camera.
Does anyone know if the Optus network is terrible for all Optus users (its terrible for me in Wollongong) or is it just because I use TPG? My mobile internet gets stuck all the time, and is constantly switching between 3G and H speeds – and will never achieve decent download speeds.
Pretty impressive phone, it maybe $0 on a $79, but it’s probably only going to be $7 or $9 on a $59 plan, if history is any indication. I just remind myself that Optus’ network trumps Voda and the cost is a fair reflection of that.
Outright makes far more sense than a plan. The calculated cost of the handset over the plan’s life is criminal.
Is it actually cheaper? I’ve been wondering this.. my iPhone 3GS cost $27 per month on a $19 cap plan two years ago. $27 x 24 = $648 which is cheaper I think than Apple were selling it for online.
Do you think the Nexus will be cheaper from say MobiCity than on a plan?
Hi again fluckielucas :-), I think again it depends on your monthly call and text usage, if you get it off Mobicity for $800, and then say get a prepaid plan with telstra for $30-$40 a month, it is cheaper – $30 * 24 = $720 +$800 for phone = $1520 versus $1896 for $79 cap or say $59 * 24 + say $10 mobile mobile phone repayments = $1656. But really it comes down to personal preference, I hate plans and love being able to switch providers…however if your a big caller, then an unlimited plan is better… NO… Read more »
I reckon it would be cheaper to buy it outright and go on the TPG $20 a month plan, You get the same credits but with TPG you get some extras compared to the Optus $49 plan (which of course you are paying for the phone too) but it beats the $79 a month deal. Au is one of the few markets where you still can get cheaper plans via pre-paid and BYO so why not take advantage of it.
Depends, I know Telstra heavily susidise their handsets with ZMRO. $360 for a SGSII if you cancel the MRO, otherwise stay in contract and only pay $59 a month. Handset cost is far cheaper on plan. Its all about air time, they give phones away, as long as your on the network for a certain period of time.
I’m not going back to optus.
But is this the LTE version?
AFAIK Optus doesn’t have an LTE network, so no, it’ll be the GSM version.
LTE in AU will use 1800mhz (and 2600mhz) as i recall, Even the American Galaxy Nexus LTE version won’t work over here because its 700mhz and CDMA hybrid because it’s a Verizon phone.
What a rip-off!
free on the $79 cap for 24 months. they must be joking. It should be free on the $49 or $59 cap. Ill wait for voda 12 month Caps
You’re being too optimistic if you think a 12 month plan will somehow be cheaper. Even with the carrot of (usually) $10 cheaper per month to move to Voda, it’ll still be $79ish without handset repayment.